Nail Art for Cervix Cancer Awareness

Hello everyone!

Today I want to show you this stamping nail art that I made for cervix cancer awareness. In some countries January is the month for cervix cancer awareness. First I'm going to tell what I know about preventing this type of cancer and the importance of HPV vaccination and regular gynecological examinations, and then I'll tell about my teal nails. I also found a little video for you, that I felt was informative. So feel free to scroll down to the video.

According to the WHO (World Health Organization): The second most common cancer in women worldwide, cervical cancer affects close to half a million women every year, killing an estimated 275 000 of them. About 77% of new cases and 85% of deaths occur in the developing world, where cancer screening and treatment services are scarce.

Luckily, this is a type of cancer where research has given us a way to prevent it, and to detect the cancer early, and that can save many lives. We now know that a virus is the cause to 99% of the cases. The virus that gives cervical cancer is called the HUMAN PAPILLOMAVIRUS (HPV). Many types of HPV exists. Of the ones that has to do with cervical cancer, some of them are more aggressive than others. In many cases, the body is capable of getting rid of the viruses. Therefor most women with HPV don't develop cervical cancer. Some HPV viruses can make the cells in the cervix change slowly, and other viruses can make the cells change very fast. Any man or woman who has had any form of sex can get the virus. In some cases it can give genital warts, but other than that the virus has no symptoms. The good thing about finding the link between HPV and cervix cancer, is that vaccines could be made. So far, two HPV vaccines have been made, and used for some years, and probably saved many women's lives. Hopefully they will make vaccines that work for all types of HPV soon.

What can you do?

1. Get vaccinated

-According to WHO, the two HPV vaccines currently available, are: GlaxoSmithKline’s Cervarix and Merck’s Gardasil. For more information, click here.- The vaccines work against the HPV viruses that give the highest risk for cancer. So you can still get the other types of HPV viruses. So although the risk for cervix cancer is reduced, you still should get gynecological examinations done regularly. - In many countries all girls who are about 12 years old get vaccinated, and all young women of a certain age can get vaccinated if they want to, and those older can get it but have to pay for it themselves. (I don't know if they have started mass vaccination of boys anywhere yet.) You should ask your physician how it is in your country, if you or your daughters can get it.

2. Get gynecological examinations regularly to

A) take the HPV test to find out if you have HPV or not, and in case you have it, which type of HPV. This is important because it will let your physician know how big the risk is, and how often you should get gynecological examinations (for instance twice a year instead of every second year). If you for instance have a high risk virus, it's important to be aware of it, so that you make sure to get examined often enough to detect cell changes early enough. (Some countries have stopped performing the HPV test (although it is very quick and easy to do) because it's considered too expensive to give it to all women compared to the preventive effect, so the woman may have to pay for it. But all this is depends on where in the world you are)

B) find out if the cells in the cervix are normal, and if you have an early stage of cancer. In some countries they store your samples, so that they can compare them every third year or something.

Even though most of us don't like the examination, it only takes a few minutes, and it can save your life. Although the gynecologists disagree on the importance of HPV testing, they seem to agree on regular tests of the cells in cervix.

If the cervix cancer is detected very early, the prognosis is very good.

A woman I know told me that she had a very early stage of cell change, and that she needed a small operation. This was done by a local gynecologist with local anesthesia, it was done very quickly, she had no pain, and I was surprised that she felt OK afterwards, and could go home as if nothing had happened. This is now many years ago and she is still healthy. The reason why it went so well, is probably that it was detected early, because she had gynecological tests done regularly.The other woman I know had this small operation done when she was in her twenties, and she thought that she couldn't get pregnant, but now has two children.

As with other types of cancer, early detection and early treatment is important, or the cancer can grow and spread to other organs.

Here's a video from Australia, called: Just a Minute - Cervical Cancer video.

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Influenster Holiday VoxBox — Goody Quikstyle Paddle Brush

I just received the email from Influenster letting me know the Holiday VoxBox survey was up, and I realized I never posted a review for my Goody Quikstyle brush! This is definitely not a review I want to forget.

As you can see, I received the Paddle Brush version of the Quikstyle. It's not the one I would have bought for myself, but it's all I'll buy now! There's just something about it that I like better than the Half-Round Styler Brushes.The Quikstyle is made up of the regular ball tipped bristles with the addition of absorbent microfiber bristles. They remind me of those microfiber hair wrap towels of the same color. The microfiber is antimicrobial so the brush stays fresh. I recommend hitting it with a bit of hot air from your blow-dryer if you use it on wet hair since they will start to smell a bit like mildew if you put them away wet. The vents along the sides of the brush will pull the air deep into the microfiber bristles and direct it out so don't worry about ruining the brush or causing overheating! The brush is also lightweight with a textured ergonomic handle for better grip.The packaging tells us that these microfiber bristles are super absorbent and will help reduce water by 30% to help hair dry faster. My hair is fairly thin and dries well on its own, so I really didn't notice any difference in my dry time.What I did notice was the brushes ability to detangle every knot on my head and leave behind frizz free hair! My hair is always somehow managing to tie itself into knots. Honest to goodness, tied in knots — sometimes big knotted bows that are literally impossible to unknot. I either have to attempt to unknot them, but really only end up yanking the hair from my head, or trim the knots out. Seriously, I would buy this brush for its seemingly magical detangling ability if nothing else!!

I'm loving my new knot-free, frizz-free, perfect hair day every time hair. There will be no other brush for me unless Goody comes out with a better version of the Quikstyle, but I'm not sure that's possible. I'm pleased with it just the way it is.This will be my last Influenster Holiday VoxBox review since I wasn't one of the lucky few who received one of the Montagne Jeunesse Face Masques, and I still haven't tried the EBOOST. After much debating with myself, I really can't bring myself to try the Pink Lemonade energy/immunity dietary drink supplement I received. I would love to try it, but I really hate lemonade. It would likely be a really unfair review.*All products were sent to me for testing purposes, completely complimentary, from Influenster.

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Saran Wrap Valentine's Day Nail Art Tutorial

Hello again everyone! I missed my post yesterday, but I have a really great excuse! It was mentioned in an answer to one of the 1st Blogiversary Giveaway entries that one of you wanted to see a Saran Wrap tutorial. There were more than a few of you who wanted to see video tutorials. So, I was spending all day yesterday editing my first real nail art video. I have a whole new level of respect for video bloggers!

Here are the nails I'll be showing you how to create in the video. This is a very easy mani to do, and with pink and white polish it is perfect for Valentine's Day!

I don't really have the set up or the best software/know-how for this, but I gave it my best shot. Enjoy!

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Candy Coated Collection — Frosting Coated Sprinkles

This is Frosting Coated Sprinkles inspired by the Candy Castle. Depending on which version of Candyland you look at you'll find some of the Castles with frosting, some with ice cream, and some with both. This polish was mixed up to look like the bright pink frosting decorating the Castle.

Contained in this bright pink shimmery frosting is 'sprinkles' of various colors and sizes in squares and hexes. I think this polish is the essence of Candyland melted down and bottled. :)

This is two coats of Frosting Coated Sprinkles over white. You'll have no trouble getting glitter on your nails with this polish!

This is two coats of Frosting Coated Sprinkles over bare nails. You can really see the shimmer contained in the polish in this picture. Both pictures were taken after I applied top coat. There is so much glitter in this polish that it does have a rough finish when dry ... top coat really is a must with this one.

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Spun Sugar Gradient

Hey everyone! Sorry about the non-nail art related posts yesterday. There was a bit of an emergency Sunday that left me with no time to edit and type up posts. So, I went with what I did have. I do really hope to see a few of you joining me in the Blogs to Love Friday linkup. That said, today's post really is nail art!!

I have a few ideas for Valentine's Day nails and this was one of the first I thought of — spun sugar Valentine's Day nails done as a gradient.

Spun sugar nails are really easy. They are a bit messy but the wispy strings make it easy to clean up. I started with a base of two coats L.A. Colors white. This is Energy Source now that L.A. Colors started naming their polishes. The next step is probably the hardest and it's not hard at all! It just takes a bit of patience. I started at the tips of my nails and worked up using Sally Hansen Pink Blink first. Put a drop or two of your first color on a piece of paper, using a pin or a dotting tool mix the polish until it's thick. You can speed this along by blowing on it as you stir. You can start as soon as it's thick enough to start forming strings when you lift the pin out of the polish. I didn't wait long enough with my red polish and got some drips instead of strings, so make sure it's thick enough not to drip.Once strings start to form you'll need to get your nail very close to the thick polish. Lay your finger on it's side angled towards the polish if you're having trouble getting the strings on your nail. Use your pin or dotting tool to quickly but smoothly pull strings across your nails, doing one nail at a time.

Continue doing the tips of each nail with Pink Blink. You may need to thicken more polish if you didn't start with enough or if it thickened too quickly. I used Sinful Colors Beautiful Girl next. I placed some of my strings over some of the Pink Blink strings to create a seamless fade of color. After Beautiful Girl, I used Sally Hansen Fuchsia Power and then finished with Wet n Wild I Red A Good Book.Let the polish dry. It shouldn't take long! Then do a quick cleanup. I pinched off some of the wispy strings that were flying around my nails and then used some nail polish remover and a Nail Tee (a fancy pointed Q-tip) to clean up the rest.

Add top coat if you like and admire your new mani. Take into consideration when deciding whether to use top coat or not that, while it will make your mani last longer, it will smooth all those strings you just worked so hard on. It will likely take more than one coat as this is a very thick mani. It may also cause some bubbling if you're not careful applying your top coat.That said, I did use top coat, two coats ... and I did get one large bubble that popped while the top coat dried and left behind a spot bare of top coat. It's really not noticeable though, even in my close-up pictures. I did kind of miss the stringed look though.

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Little Flormar Giveaway!

I have something fun for you guys, that I hope you will like: a little giveaway! This time there will be only one winner and that lucky one will win these three polishes:

From left to right Flormar polishes number 809, 802 and 817. (If you are wondering why they say KoneHelsinki on the bottle and the caps are different, it's because Flormar polishes are sold here in Finland also under the KoneHelsinki brand. These are still Flormar polishes, just with different caps.)

I have bought these polishes with my own money and the purpose of this giveaway is just to thank my readers. New readers are of course welcome too! Also this is kinda my birthday giveaway too as it will end on my birthday, February 16th.

You get one entry by participating to the giveaway, but you can also get extra entries too by advertising this giveaway, but this is totally voluntary. I also wanted to figure out a way to thank those readers that keep coming back to blog and keep commenting, so everyone who has left any comment here in my blog since the beginning of this year will get three extra entries for this giveaway. Any comments left after this giveaway has started doesn't count, as the purpose of this is to thank the people who have been commenting before, though of course all comments in the future will be greatly appreciated. You don't need to do anything to get these extra entries, I will check this myself and take care of it so that all who has commented and participated to this giveaway, will get those entries.

I also added question about your home country to the end of the form just because I'd like to know where my readers come from, but answering that doesn't give any extra entries or isn't in any way mandatory. Also there's a comment box at the end if youd like to say something, but again that's not mandatory or doesn't give any entries.

So here are the rules:

1. You must be a public follower via Google Friend Connect, new followers are of course welcome. Let me know your GFC name and your e-mail, so I can easily contact the winner. (1 entry)2. If the winner doesn't answer to my email within 48 hours, I will draw another winner.

For extra entries:

You can post about this giveaway or put it in your giveaway page or sidebar or tweet or facebook about the giveaway. You can use the picture too. Please provide a link. (2 entries)

The giveaway is open internationally! To participate just fill the form below.

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Recent Hauls

I've already posted individually about some of the polishes of these hauls, so it's about time to do this haul post...

So first of is my beautycosmetic.biz haul, that I've already told you about. Here's what I ordered from left to right: Golden Rose Jolly Jewels 110 and 117, Catrice Gold Leaf top coat and Rest In The Forest, Essence Nail Art Topper Mrs and Mr Glitter, Quick Dry top coat and Gel-look top coat. I already posted about GR Jolly Jewels number 110 and you can read the post here.

Also these Perfect holographic polishes came in the same order, from left to right H1, H3, H5, H6 and H7. I also already posted about these and you can read the post here. In that same post at the end I also have told my own experiences about the beautycosmetic.biz store, so if you're interested in that, take a look at that post.

Finally I also have done some more shopping in different places. I bought the OPI polish at the left from a local store on sale and that one is of course Steady As She Rose from the Pirates of the Caribbean collection. Then the two next ones, Essie Muchi Muchi and Konad Top coat I bought from a Facebook nail polish group. Zoya Annie is from Ebay and well, I had to have it because of the name of course! Then last but not least are two a-england polishes that I bought from their previous sale and they are Princess Sabra and She Walks In Beauty.

I think from all of these I'm probably most excited about a-england She Walks In Beauty, because it looks so gorgeous in bottle and I've seen so many great manicures already done with it!

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Layering: Cult Nails Seduction over Pieces Winter Purple

Hello everyone!

Cult Nails: Seduction layered over Pieces: Winter Purple

This is Cult Nails Seduction over Pieces Winter Purple. I will show you photos taken in different light conditions and under water to show the flakies better. In the picture above I hold my hand under water.

The bottles:

Pieces: Winter Purple, Cult Nails: Seduction

This is how Cult Nails describes Seduction:

A diva true to her name, Seduction lures you in with her purple sheer base and leaves you speechless by adding red and blue flakes that offer a slight flash of color shift to gold at certain angles. Seduction was originally offered as part of the “Divas and Drama” Collection, 2012. Each bottle is 0.5 fluid ounces approximately 15 ml.

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Influenster Holiday VoxBox — Sole Society

Hey girlies! The month is coming to a close and the Sole Society promo code I received in my Influenster Holiday VoxBox will be expiring on the 31st. Just use the promo code INFLUENSTER25 before January 31st and you'll get $25 off your first pair of shoes from Sole Society.I really wanted to have this code out there sooner but I searched and searched, debated and talked myself into and out of half a dozen shoes and then finally used my $25 off code last Friday. I have been posting it like crazy on my Twitter account from the start though, so I'm hoping someone got some use out of it.

Aren't they gorgeous? I love the heel! The reason I bought these when there were so many amazing shoes to choose from? I recently purchased a summer dress, had another summer dress bought for me, and remembered I already have the perfect outfit to match these shoes. Seriously? To have 3 outfits made with these shoes and to get said shoes for $24.95 after using the promo code is awesome!!

This is a picture of the dress I recently purchased for myself with an Amazon gift card I earned through Swagbucks. It is an Allegra K dress sold by uxcell. I recommend checking out their Amazon store or just doing a search for Allegra K on Amazon because they sell some really great things at wonderful prices!! These shoes also match the dress bought for me which is a really pretty flowing beach style blue dress with a brushstroke pattern. I've paired this with a thick brown stretch belt and pulling the fabric up from the belt makes it the perfect shorter length beach dress. I also have a really gorgeous tiered brown mini skirt that I pair with a simple tank top and heels in the summer.

Like I said though, before deciding on Monica, I had picked out half a dozen or more shoes. Here's the ones that got a serious second look and actually made it into my cart before I talked myself out of them. Miranda actually made it into the cart more than once. However, I live in the middle of nowhere ... the middle of nowhere that gets knee deep snow at times. And honestly, I'm just not good enough walking in wedges to risk it. As for Vida ... well, I've been told I was made for heels. I'm like an elephant in flats — an elephant that trips over nothing.Finally, here are the shoes I think deserve a mention because they're so darn pretty listed by heel height.

Remember that my 1st Blogiversary Giveaway also ends on the 31st. This giveaway is open to both my US and international followers. Click on the link, go take a peek, and definitely enter! You can't win if you don't enter. And if you buy yourself a nice pair of shoes from Sole Society with the INFLUENSTER25 promo code and you do happen to win one of the prizes in my giveaway imagine how great you'll look opening the package I send you!!*All products (unless otherwise stated) were sent to me for testing purposes, completely complimentary, from Influenster.

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Blogs to Love Friday Linkup

I'm always trying to find new blogs to follow, new content to read, and new things to inspire me. So, while browsing, when I saw this post by My Beautiful, Crazy Life I knew I had to join. I also knew I had to share it with you!!

Have you ever read a blog post and wanted nothing more than to share it on your own blog? You may remember that I tried something like this before. Sadly, there was a lot of hype around that time about image theft and what one blogger was allowed to post of another blogger's work, even with proper credit given, so my posts were discontinued. However, I would love to try this again — in a slightly different way, of course.

This linkup is being hosted by My Beautiful, Crazy Life and Mrs. Monologues. I think it's the perfect way to give deserving bloggers some love and additional traffic. Who doesn't love having their blog shared or the content they worked so hard on getting a little bit of extra, well-deserved credit?

So, starting Friday, February 1st, and every Friday after, take the posts you loved or that inspired you from that week and share them with your followers. Scream about them from the rooftops if you feel the need. :)

As written by My Beautiful, Crazy Life: I encourage you to construct your posts however you want. Feel free to make it fancy or even show us images because we all love visuals, but the main objective is to share the love of your favorite posts.Also, remember to grab the button above and include it in your post if you decide to participate. I will definitely try to include at least one nail related post each Friday, but that's not all the blogs I read. I love beauty blogs in general, fashion, health and fitness, and FOOD!!! So you'll definitely see a little bit of everything in my Friday posts.Will you be participating? Will you be looking forward to my Friday posts? Here's your chance to share your blogs with me, share a friend's blog, or even just a blog you love that you think deserves some love. Post your links in the comments! :)

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Golden Rose Jolly Jewels #110

I have just a quick post for you guys today with one pretty awesome polish!

So this is Golden Rose Jolly Jewels number 110 and well, isn't it great? I thought this was a really fun polish, kind of like China Glaze It's A Trap-eze, only of course with different colored glitter. I really liked the look of this, it's quite a funky polish imo. It wasn't the easiest one to work with though, due to the fact that there's a lot of glitter in it, but with little patience, it was workable.

Golden Rose has at least 17 of these Jolly Jewels polishes and I really need to have more! I have just this one and one other and there are many more that I would like to have. There's even one that seems to be close to It's A Trap-eze. I ordered mine from beautycosmetic.biz, but many were out of stock. I hope I can still find couple of these somewhere, they are so much fun!

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Pieces: Winter Purple

Hello everyone!

(This blog seems to look best in Google Chrome!)

Pieces: Winter Purple

This is a dark purple cream nail polish called Winter Purple, from Pieces. I like the color very much, but my camera doesn't. These three first photos are as color accurate as I can get them, but the two first should have looked a little more red, and the third should have been a little darker. But because of it's name, I wanted to take some winter photos outside too, although the camera makes the polish look too blue in daylight.

Pieces: Winter Purple

Pieces: Winter Purple

Pieces: Winter Purple

I don't remember how many coats I used. So I did a test today, and only needed two coats to reach opacity on that nail. So I have probably used 2-3 coats. I just remember that I was relieved that it is a lot better than the formula of the Pieces cream polish I bought last year :-) This bottle was bought in December.

Pieces: Winter Purple

Pieces: Winter Purple

Pieces: Winter Purple

Pieces: Winter Purple

Pieces: Winter Purple

Pieces: Winter Purple

Pieces: Winter Purple

Pieces: Winter Purple

Pieces: Winter Purple

Pieces: Winter Purple

Bestseller, who owns Pieces, has made a new statement on this webpage, that they don't accept any animal testing. Although I haven't found their name on the animal organisations' lists, I hope we can trust Bestseller's statement:

Animal testingIn Bestseller we do not agree with testing cosmetics on animals. Our suppliers must not be involved in any animal testing of cosmetic products and ingredients, or purchase ingredients or products from suppliers which have been involved in such practices.

Pieces: Winter Purple

I like this color very much, but also wanted to try a flakie over it. I'll show you in a few days.